Despite Arson, Horse Slaughterhouse Says It Will Open On Schedule
Despite an arson that damaged five air compressors “beyond repair” last week, an upcoming New Mexico horse slaughterhouse now says it will open on schedule. The company had previously stated the arson would “delay” Monday’s opening.
Refrigeration units at the Valley Meat Co. in Roswell., N.M., lit up in flames on Tuesday, in what was speculated to be an arson by animal rights activists. Neither the Animal Liberation Front nor other group has yet taken responsibility.
The plant was to be the first horse slaughterhouse in the nation, after changes at the USDA closed the last remaining three in 2007.
The slaughterhouse has been under tremendous pressure since announcing it would be first in the country to open after the Obama administration recently allowed horse slaughter in the US to resume. The plant faces a federal lawsuit from the Humane Society of the United States and other plaintiffs.
This slaughterhouse was also put on the map in March, when one of its workers shot a horse in the head on camera, and said, “All you animal activists, fuck you.”
The sentiment was returned Tuesday, when (presumed) animal activists set the building on fire.
New Mexico Against Horse Slaughter Longer version now posted:
4:29 p.m. Friday Aug 2nd 2013
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily halted plans by companies in New Mexico and Iowa to start slaughtering horses next week.
U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo on Friday issued a restraining order in a lawsuit brought by The Humane Society of the United States and other groups. They contend the Depart…See More
WONDERFUL NEWS !!!
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_23787181/judge-halts-planned-opening-horse-slaughterhouse
Judge halts planned opening of horse slaughterhouse
ALBUQUERUQUE >> A federal judge ruled Friday that two horse-slaughter plants pose a threat to the environment and they cannot open next week.
Chief U.S. District Judge M. Christine Armijo said opponents of horse slaughter had met their burden in establishing that a temporary restraining order against the plants was justified.
Armijo said a hearing before a federal magistrate as soon as Monday would allow the companies to seek a bond from their legal opponents so that they would be compensated for lost business if they ultimately prevail in the case.
But Armijo’s ruling means that Valley Meat Co. of Roswell, N.M., and Responsible Transportation of Sigourney, Iowa, are barred from starting business for at least 30 days.
Both companies hope to slaughter horses and sell the meat to grocers and restaurants in foreign markets. They wanted to be the first plants to open since Congress shut down the horse-slaughter business by eliminating money for inspectors six years ago.
Armijo based a large part of her ruling on a directive for inspection procedures by a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She said the directive amounted to government policy, and was so significant that it should have triggered a review through the National Environmental Policy Act.
This was necessary to protect public safety, the judge said.
Lawyers for the Department of Agriculture said the internal directive was merely a guideline for the agency as it prepared to resume horse-plant inspections after the hiatus in horse slaughter. They said the document that Armijo put so much emphasis on had no bearing on the law that allows horse slaughter in America.
A. Blair Dunn, the attorney for Valley Meat and a Missouri company also trying to start a horse-slaughter plant, said Armijo’s ruling was “out of left field.”
No lawyer’s brief made an issue of the directive on inspections, but Armijo seized on it, Dunn said.
But he did not entirely blame the judge for introducing the issue. Dunn said the Department of Agriculture had stalled the plant openings for a year while it compiled the directive.
He said he would ask for bond of $10 million to $25 million from opponents of the plants. This assumes that delays in opening because of Armijo’s temporary restraining order would last from six months to a year, Dunn said.
The Humane Society of the United States, a equine rescue operation in Colorado and a host of other groups were party to the lawsuit to block the plants from opening.
Bruce Wagman, a lawyer representing foes of the slaughter plants, said Armijo made a sound ruling based on law. He said she had not legislated from the bench, but instead was on solid legal ground by requiring that the U.S. government meet its responsibilities to protect communities from environmental harm.
Wagman said cities in Texas and Illinois that housed the last U.S. horse-slaughter plants had been damaged irreparably by pollution of land and water by blood and horse parts.
Go to link for the rest of story.
Holaaaaaaaaa
What about this????
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/03/business/federal-judge-halts-plans-to-start-horse-slaughters.html?_r=0
Give’m hell, but be careful as these horse killers sound even more psycho than the usuall psychos AL people encounter..
Who are we contacting regarding this?? Any thing we can do at this point??